Quinn, I wrote to the owner yesterday..He replied saying he's been having problems with that site. He also asked which products I was interested in ordering. I wish I knew more about Eleanor's VF-11, then make a decision whether or not to buy it. Quinn, like I said, in the 90's I was a dedicated Logees customer. I still have quite a few of their plants. The only problem back then was their shipping prices. 7 plants for 11.00..But shipping costs didn't stop me from ordering either..lol Then, around 1999-2000, I placed an order. What a disappointment! First, they decreased pot sizes from 4" to 2 1/4"..but, worse, while reducing size, they increased prices AND shipping. I order quite a bit, and know what shipping costs should be. They went overboard. Still, as long as they sent decent plants I figured it was worth it..Then everything went downhill. I placed an order, including a variegated lemon tree..Quinn, the so-called citrus was no larger than 2" and was gone within days..soil was dry from its shipping ride, not wrapped properly. Still 2"!! Besides, it was an ungrafted seedling. They didn't mention that. For the price, I was expecting, at the least, a small but grafted citrus. There were other plants that were dead upon arrival..even ST couldn't save them. The last order included an Acalypha. A DEAD Acalypha. This time I phoned customer service. The woman was very nice, helpful. She must have read over previous orders because she said, 'I certainly will replace your plant, we don't want to lose you as a customer.' And she did..the second Acalypha was gorgeous. Why didn't they send the second plant in the first place? So, after $150+ later, I never again ordered from Logees. There are too many nurseries around that ship big, healthy plants. I admit, some have a tendency to up S&H, but considering prices and sizes of plants, (most 4"ers) it's worth it. I don't want to down Logees..Perhaps they're sending larger plants and packing securely..It's been years since my last order, so I can't say. As long as consumers are satisfied with their purchases, that's all that matters. Then again, two people on the Fragrant forum who recently ordered from Logees complained their plants were loaded with insects. Quinn, I'm not going to say I've never killed a plant, but if I receive a new plant that's dead or half-dead, I can't take the blame. Toni PS. If you're still interested in the small, hanging baskets, email the owner. I'll let you know how it goes.

My bet is, if we had to do it again, we could probably have paid about $500 less, if we'd really pushed. [snip] I wish people could just be totally honest and we wouldn't have to play these games. Good ol' hindsight -- always 20/20! :-) Seriously, yes, you probably could have done better. But that likely would have taken far more time and information than you could spend. I know the insides don't really matter.......but this thing was like new inside. I hope the engine, etc. is the same way! The insides do matter. First, it's most of what you see when you're in the car. Second, if the inside was well-cared-for, the rest of the car should have been, too. But, in the future, you really should have a prospective used car examined by a mechanic you trust to make sure you're getting the deal you think you are. I have another question for you. I'm seeing some really low-priced cars that only have something like 25,000 miles on them. Can we read anything into that? Why so cheap?? The market for most used cars has softened considerably. Incentives on new cars (0% financing, rebates) and cheap leases made the price differences between used and new cars marginal and so people bought or leased new cars. With the continual incentives for new vehicls, used cars flooded the market. Speaking of flooding, there undoubtedly will be a bunch of cars from Katrina-stricken areas which some unscrupulous people will attempt to fix and sell off with a -- er, washed -- title. Those cars will be cheap to keep them moving. Also, most of these cars had a big yellow sign on them that said "No hassle pricing". To me, that means they just don't want to deal. What does it usually mean?? I think that statement is just plain silly. Are we stupid or what?? Are we supposed to think "Oh, how nice! We can just pay the asking price and have no hassles!" hahaha (We're stupid, but not that stupid) Lots of people enjoy haggling for a car as much as they enjoy getting root canal. Personally, I would venture that most of Saturn's success comes from their no-hassle, we're-all-friends-here demeanor, because it certainly isn't the cars or the great deals that keep people coming back. "No hassle" is an attempt to bring the price down some from full list to let buyers think they're getting a deal -- which they are, without the usual confrontational aspects of negotiationg; just not as much as possible. It should also be a little cheaper for the dealership because they don't have to burden their sales reps with so much dead time spent "speaking to the manager" -- they can be out selling cars. You'll notice that no one offers "no hassle" trade-ins (not even Saturn). Besides, how many things do you buy for which you actually negotiate? Groceries? Patio furniture? Insurance? Mortgages? In a way, "no-hassle" puts car-buying on the order of buying something in a department store. Don't like the price? Don't buy. I guess I was naive in thinking that it was safer to buy a used car from a reputable dealer. Am I totally wrong on that? The dealer has been nothing but honest and above-board with me on a regular basis. I've even taken my Odyssey in for weird things I've noticed, and they've checked it, and said nothing was wrong, when they could have ripped me off (like the volvo dealer used to). Maybe I should only feel good about buying their used cars, if they are precertified? Some manufacturers put limits on the cars they will sell "precertified" -- like how old the car is, how many miles it has,.... Just because a car is not certified does not mean it's bad -- though I would think less of a two- or three-year-old Civic sold by a Honda dealer that wasn't certified because that certification is worth more to the dealer. And the salesman said he couldn't do any dealing at all on the warranty....when we asked it to be included in our price. Of course, we just lowered what we wanted to give for the car, but have you heard of that before....that they don't include those in "the deal"? Well, maybe he couldn't deal on the warranty. But I'll bet someone at the dealership could. I've done it (and still refused the warranty). And I could see why the dealer would not be tripping over himself to swallow the cost of a "$1200" warranty in the price of an $8,000 car. I hate buying cars.......new or used. The reality of everything is just so variable! You've just provided Reason #16 why people like "no-hassle" pricing. :-) Buying a car anymore is a considerable investment. We all want to make sure we get it right. Having to haggle over the price when you don't know the real cost makes it that much more difficult.

quirky, my folks bought American cars for years. After horrible experience with an AMC product in the mid-70s, however, they went Japanese -- and never went back. When I met my now-ex-wife, she had a mid-80's Chrysler that pretty obviously was a "Friday car"; that piece of junk barely outlasted the payment book. Unless you count the Rabbit GTI that was built in Westmoreland, PA (not a great example of German craftsmanship), I've never owned an American car. But I see that changing. My ex has been driving a Ford station wagon for the last ten years that somehow survives despite the abuse. My sister has a Saturn that is nowhere near state-of-the-art, but is screwed together decently. American cars are getting better. What needs to improve is American-car-manufacturer management. Lear and Delphi and Collins & Aikman can build quality products. But when they're not partner to the design decisions and they're continually asked to tighten their belts on existing contracts, management is the problem. When GM cries that worker benefits cost them some $1,500 per car, management (who gave away those benefits in better days and apparently could not envision that the gravy train would stop one day) is the problem. (Special mention goes to UAW management, too, which also failed to believe that the gravy train could stop.) When Ford paints a dark picture of their future because customers are no longer buying Extinctions and don't want to buy outdated Foci, management (who green-lighted the priority for huge SUVs and chose not to sell the world-class European Focus) is the problem. American workers are capable of building cars as good as Japanese can make them. American parts, as used in hundreds of thousands of Camrys and Accords and Sentras, are as good as anyone else's. The difference is management and how little they seem to care beyond making this quarter's numbers. BTW, my perception issue with Toyota doors is that they're just too light. They close fine, the handles don't feel junky. But when I open that door and see that little hinge and feel the door fly away from my hand :-) I just don't feel really confident that the door is in it for the long haul. Obviously, it is. It's just a perception issue for me.

I read the reviews before our purchase that we made in 02/21. In the showroom the sofa was extremely comfortable, sat exactly how I needed it to sit for me. I'm 6'1", 225 lbs, 66 with a history of lower lumbar issues. It was delivered and was wonderful - for about a month. It sank at least two inches. Seriously, so much that when I used the sofa it began to increase my back pain and then began to cause difficulty getting up from the sofa because the sunken portion places me in a position where my pelvis is lower than my knees. I finally made a claim with our furniture company - which has been great to deal with - and they sent someone to look at it 06/21. Yes, there's a definite issue the repair man said, and yes, maybe it's just a bad piece of foam. BTW, both reclining ends did this. So new inserts were ordered and their repair man brought them and put them in on a Tuesday. Before the next Tuesday rolled around, the sinking feeling has returned and is worsening. There's definitely something not right with the quality of the foam used here, or there's something wrong with the platform that supports the foam. Everything else seems to be quality and is to be appreciated, but honestly, what good is reclining 'comfort' furniture if that comfort doesn't last more than a month or even less? With that said, I know there's nothing better out there. Seriously. I think folks just need to understand this isn't going to hold it's comfort the same way it does when you try it out in the showroom.